Down, but not out
DANVILLE — Danville has dealt with adversity all season — injuries, tough losses, mental lapses — and it’s all accumulated to must-win situations for the Ironmen.
Coach Carl Majer has preached all year they can’t look back and they have to regroup with a “next man up” mentality quickly.
Nobody symbolized that more Friday night in their 26-21 win over Shikellamy than 6-foot-7 sophomore Benjamin Koser. In the weeks prior, Koser used his height advantage at quarterback. With injuries depleting the Ironmen — upwards of 20, according to Majer — he was put on the offensive line to protect Week 9’s quarterback, Carter Raup.
He and the line jelled nicely, creating running lanes for Raup and Landon Kehoe that weren’t there in the last month as both recorded touchdowns on the ground. They also accounted for all 107 rushing yards.
His most significant influence, however, came on the defensive side. Facing a 14-13 deficit and Shikellamy driving with its initial possession of the second half — even getting lucky breaks when Luke Keally fumbled and the Braves recovered it for a positive gain — to get to Danville’s 11, Koser swatted Brody Rebuck’s pass to himself. With nothing in front of him, Koser showed off his speed for an 88-yard touchdown.
“We’ve asked Ben to do a lot of things this year, and putting him at O-Line was just the next task for him. He played really well,” Majer said. “He played defensive end and changed the game, showing his speed and height and how good he is.”
The good times, unfortunately, didn’t last long for Koser. Shikellamy put together another long drive, getting help from a pair of third-down pass interference calls to keep things moving. Rebuck’s 8-yard keeper capped off the seven-play, 80-yard drive.
On that same play, Koser went down with a nasty ankle injury. He had to get it popped back into place by medical staff before being taken off by ambulance. As he was being attended to, the players were on a knee the entire time, and the stadium applauded as he was driven off.
Majer didn’t have a postgame update, saying, “We don’t know exactly what happened.”
The sophomore’s mother was on the field as the medical event unfolded. She also had a message for the team.
“On the sidelines, we had a team prayer for him, and then we went over to him and said something to him. He was optimistic about his injury, and we rallied around him,” Kehoe said. “... His mother said something along the lines of go win this for Ben.”
Kehoe, an Old Dominion commit, took that message to heart. Playing on his home turf for the last time, regardless of the fate of the Ironmen’s postseason, he jumped in front of Rebuck’s pass and took it to the house 25 yards for the pick-six. Not bad timing for his first-career interception.
The Ironmen stood tall one last time as the Braves threatened in the final seconds. After a pair of nice completions, including a 38-yard strike on fourth down, got the Braves in the red zone in the waning seconds, the Ironment bent but didn’t break, as the Braves’ counterpunch to Kehoe’s touchdown came up just short.
Rebuck showed flashes of brilliance with his arm, zipping off fast and deep passes all night. He completed five passes of 20 or more yards. He finished 17 of 34 for 245 yards and a touchdown. He also added a pair of touchdown runs.
In the end, his blips paid costly, giving Majer and the Ironmen hope they can slip into a competitive District 4 Class 3A playoff pool and a chance for a sixth straight title.
“The seniors all played awesome tonight and we’re so close to being a great football team,” Majer said. “We just can’t get over the hump and get a break. Tonight, we got over the hump, but took a big loss with Ben. We have to go with the next guy up and get it going.”
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